'Türkiye will always stand by you': Turkish president reaffirms support for Ahiska Turks

By Zafer Fatih Beyaz and Gizem Nisa Demir

ANKARA / ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkiye will “always stand by you,” the nation’s president on Wednesday told a delegation from a Turkish group rooted in Georgia’s Meskheti region, along the Turkish border.

“May God preserve our unity and solidarity,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Ziyatdin Ismihanoglu Kassanov, head of the World Union of Ahiska Turks, and his delegation at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, reaffirming Türkiye’s ongoing support for the Ahiska, or Meskhetian, Turks.

“We are closely following the issue of our Ahiska brothers’ return to their homeland and acquisition of citizenship,” he also said, referring to a Soviet-era deportation of the group.

“We pursue your just cause both bilaterally and through international organizations such as the Council of Europe and the Organization of Turkic States (OTS),” said the president.

Erdogan praised the unity and resilience of Ahiska Turks across the world and called on them to preserve their identity, language, and faith while acting under the guidance of umbrella groups like the World Union of Ahiska Turks.

He also urged greater focus on strengthening family bonds and ensuring that youth remain connected to national and spiritual values.

Marking the 81st anniversary of the 1944 deportation of nearly 100,000 Ahiska Turks from their ancestral lands, Erdogan described the tragedy as “a lasting wound in our hearts” and welcomed plans for an interactive exhibition on the exile to be co-organized with the Foreign Ministry.

The president also highlighted Türkiye’s ongoing humanitarian and citizenship support for displaced Ahiska Turks, particularly those affected by the war in Ukraine.

He noted that under public housing projects, 2,315 have been temporarily resettled in the eastern Turkish city of Elazig, with 703 already housed in Bitlis, southeastern Türkiye, and that around 170,000 have received exceptional citizenship and over 150,000 long-term residence permits to date.

Kassanov thanked Erdogan for his steadfast support, noting that the Turkish leader “has always stood by the Ahiska Turks.”

The delegation presented Erdogan with traditional gifts, including a Caucasian papakha sheepskin hat, a khan’s robe, and a calligraphy panel bearing the Rabbi Yessir prayer.